A touch of grandma's cooking

Nutritious dishes

In a world, where meals seem to have been reduced to a quick burger and soda in between office hours, eateries that serve homely, nutritious food seem doubly precious. ‘Nest Restaurant’, one such establishment is dedicated to serving dishes that remind its customers of the treats that their grandmothers used to make for them.

In fact, says Shiju Krishnan, the owner of this modest establishment, this is exactly what he had in mind when he opened ‘Nest Restaurant’, Bellandur.

Catering to nearly all tastes, the eatery serves both North and South Indian fare as well as a smattering of Chinese. Shiju maintains that this appeals to his customers,  comprising families, students and professionals from the several offices located nearby.

“The prices are very reasonable, so they find it easy to eat here on a daily basis,” he explains.

The South Indian breakfast menu comprises of staples such as idli and dosa, but they are served with a twist – customers can order dishes such as egg dosa and chicken keema dosa. Items from Kerala such as appam, puttu and idiappum are also available.

Customers are spoilt for choice when it comes to the main dishes. Vegetarians can opt for North Indian specialities such as paneer kadai, dal makhani, mushroom curry, palak paneer and paneer butter masala. Chicken-lovers are in for a treat with items like chicken vindaloo, a Goan dish made with gravy and potato and chicken varutharchathu, a Kerala curry with ground coconut.

The other non-vegetarian dishes include chilli fish, Malabar fish, masala prawns and pepper dry mutton, a very popular dish made wherein the meat is dipped in oil and sauteed with onions and pepper.

Different snacks like capsicum bhaji, paneer pakoda and onion-slice pakoda are also available.

‘Nest Restaurant’ also specialises in delivering breakfast meals on weekends. Shiju explained that when he started the eatery two years back, he had initiated a delivery system on all seven days of the week but later condensed it to just Saturday and Sunday, when the demand is highest.

Another interesting aspect of this restaurant is ‘Net Connect’, a large notice board pinned up at the entrance. Shiju explains that it is a sort of  information board for people who visit his eatery.

“It especially helps people from other parts of the country, who aren’t familiar with
Bangalore. They don’t know any local people or contacts, and so they end up getting fleeced by agents. ‘Net Connect’ tries to help them out. For example, if someone is looking for an apartment, they can come and check the advertisements put up on the board instead of wasting money on a broker,” he elaborates. Gopi, one of chief cooks in the restaurant, has also created a series of ‘Nest Specials’, such as the dal with spinach, and special chicken and fish curries. He explains that he always tries to improvise and tweak the dishes he serves, so that his customers keep coming back.

Call 9620722555 for details.